Only Fee-Only
This podcast interviews fee-only financial planners to learn about how they are helping their clients and serving their specific niches.
Only Fee-Only
#108 - Life Planning, Authenticity, and Creativity with Justin Castelli
Ever wonder how to align financial goals with core values? Join us for an inspiring conversation with Justin Castelli, a creative entrepreneur and financial advisor. As the founder of RLS Wealth and a leader in Advisors Growing as a Community, Justin shares his journey from traditional advising to life planning, emphasizing authenticity in both his personal and professional life.
Learn how the Kinder Method and the Evoke process transformed Justin’s approach to financial planning, helping clients align their money with their values. He shares how creative outlets like spoken word and music have pushed him out of his comfort zone, leading to personal growth and self-discovery.
Justin also discusses staying authentic in environments that often demand conformity, balancing life’s spiritual, mental, and physical aspects, and using signs and omens to guide decisions. Don’t miss his thoughtful insights on integrating creativity, individuality, and purpose into financial planning.
Justin's Social:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincastelli/
X: @jus10castelli
https://www.justincastelli.io/
Music in this episode was obtained from Bensound
no-transcript grow. I mean the evolution of what Justin's doing and his creativity. I mean the guy, by nature, is a huge creative. So getting to see what he's done over the last few years with Founding Pursuit he's done over the last few years with Founding Pursuit. He's a co-founder of the Advisors Growing as a Community, the AGC, and he's also an RAA owner with RLS Wealth and is getting more into life planning. So Life Design Plus is one of the things that he has going now and he talks a lot about the direction that he's wanting to go with that and what he wants the future to look like for him, for his firm, and what he wants his life to look like in general. This guy's very introspective. I think he has a lot of great things to say. He has learned a lot from the great George Kinder. So enjoy this episode with Justin Costelli on the Only Feet Only podcast.
Speaker 2:What's up everyone? Welcome to another episode of the Only Feet Only podcast. What's up everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Only Feet Only podcast. I'm Peter Travalo. I'm here with my co-host, brock Buckles. How's it going today, brock?
Speaker 1:It's good man, we got a big one today.
Speaker 2:Yes, the legend himself, Justin Costelli, founder of RLS, the AGC and so many other things. I'm so excited to have him back on. He was our first guest on the first podcast and here we are in the hundreds. So excited to have you back on, justin.
Speaker 3:Hey, it's great to be back and you've had a lot of great guests. I think are doing bigger things than I am, so I appreciate the kind intro. It's glad to be back. And, peter, where are you at? I know it's like where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
Speaker 2:It's where in the world is Peter these days? So where are you at today?
Speaker 1:Yeah, South Beach, miami, so nice and sunny Home base, home base, home base stateside.
Speaker 2:I am passportless. I'm waiting for my new passport to come. I was burglarized, like four weeks ago or so, so I had my backpack and my luggage stolen. That was a new one for me. So I've been to 40 plus countries and it happened in San Francisco. But here we are. So, justin, for those who don't know who you are, you want to give a quick overview of who you are and a little bit about RLS and a few of the companies you're associated with.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure, I always like to start on the personal side. So often we define ourselves with who we are as a professional, but first and foremost I am a husband and a father. I have three boys Roman Leo and Silas. My wife, angela, roman Leo and Silas happen to be the name of the firm, rls Wealth, because that's not a very easy name to say RLS is kind of hard to ramble off. But that's the first part, so the professional part of it is. I mean, I founded RLS Wealth back in 2015. I've been an advisor for almost 20 years now, which is crazy to think that I'm that old.
Speaker 3:But, I launched it back in 2015,. Basically because in my journey I realized to do things the way I wanted to do it, I had to go out on my own. So I launched RLS Wealth, which really turned me into an entrepreneur, turned me into a creator, and now I kind of view myself as a creator who happens to be a life planner and advisor. Back in the day, I was an advisor who happened to be a creator, but it's kind of flipped. So the firm has been around since 2015. I actually am not taking on any new clients on the wealth management side. I shifted my focus towards life planning and life design plus and we might talk about that a little bit today, because I think that's really the future, an important part of the future of our profession, and it's what I really really enjoy and I think, is kind of where I thrive even better than just being a financial advisor.
Speaker 3:Some other things I've done I'm a co-founder of the AGC Advisors Growing as a Community. It's a phenomenal community for financial advisors. We just turned five, so October is our fifth birthday, so we turned five. We have like 160-ish members across the globe and basically it's a place for advisors to come together who have an abundant mindset and just collaborate and grow personally and professionally together and it's really cool. I could do a whole episode on how amazing that is, but really a cool thing that I never thought I would do. That has been really, really special. And then the final thing is just on the content side.
Speaker 3:I host a podcast called Life Design Plus. I write a daily note, I write some longer forms that I call periodicals and that's all over on my personal website, justincastelliio. But all of those really center around this idea of living an authentic life. Authentic life is a term I want to own one day. It's really hard because authenticity is a buzzword and authentic life can mean so many things, but I want to own that term and people to understand what that is. And in addition to the authentic life, it's kind of this alignment of spirit, mind, body and money and how these factors can play together to help us find that authentic life and then also kind of figure out what to do with our money so that we can live that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I mean it's so cool and you were one of the advisors that we met early on in the BC Brokerage. I remember we met at a coffee shop in Fishers. We were talking about everything. You're like all right, guys, I'm sold, we don't have to talk about it anymore. I appreciate you guys being here, which was super cool, especially as we were getting out there.
Speaker 1:So I'll never forget that that had a huge impact on us and kind of following you over the years, man, it's been cool to see all of the different iterations, the ways that you recreated yourself and put your creativity out into the world. So I mean, like, where did a lot of that come from? Because, like you said, you've been an advisor for 20 years. You had the advisor hat on, kind of started in a traditional lane. If you guys want to up to speed on that, check out episode literally number one of the podcast because he talks about all that stuff. But in the last several years, man, like the talks that you've done, the creativity stuff, the life design plus the life planning stuff you've taken a turn and really pursued that more. So talk to us about where that head shift or that mind shift happened and what that means to you.
Speaker 3:Hindsight being 2020,. I've always been moving in this direction, I just didn't know it. So the creativity part really came out. When I launched the firm, I was a big fan and still a big fan of Josh Brown. I read the Reform Broker every single day. I also read the Irrelevant Investor, a Wealth of Common Sense. So I was reading these blogs while I was at a firm where I couldn't do it. I just thought that was really cool. So when I launched my firm, I was like I'm going to launch a blog because I like reading Josh's and I'm not aggressive. I think it'd be a cool way to try to grow my business. And through trying to write, I had to kind of figure out who was I as a creator. How was I going to write? I tried to write like Michael Batnick, and that wasn't it. I tried to write like Morgan Housel.
Speaker 1:I couldn't do that, no one can do that, and over time.
Speaker 3:I figured out kind of my style of writing and my topics, Like I'm not a technical writer, I'm more of a bigger picture philosophical person. So that was kind of where creativity spurred. And then I was a big fan of Invest, Like the Best, I love that podcast. And I was like, well, like if Patrick O'Shaughnessy can do a podcast, like why can't I? And that would be a really good reason for people to talk to me that I want to talk to. So then it was a podcast and podcasting turned into video and like as I started doing these things and just trying new things, I've never been afraid to experiment and actually I thrive in experimenting. Maybe that's a fault, but like when I get an interest I want to experience it. I that I want to try it. And through that I just kind of realized that I like creating, I like to express myself and I like to put myself out there. And that's really where that really developed and that's a part of getting to this authentic life and Life Design Plus stuff.
Speaker 3:But as a financial advisor I always kind of asked the question of why people wanted what they wanted out of life and that's not what life planning is Like. That's the beginning of life planning. But I always was interested more in like what motivated them just beyond. Let's run the numbers and get a plan out there. And Scott Frank introduced me to George Kinder and the Kinder Method of life planning and Evoke, and all of that a couple of years into my firm and when I read Seven Stages of Money Maturity and some of his other books I was like I really like this style and I actually started using his three questions in my onboarding. But I didn't really go through the process of true life painting. But I was always interested in that type of work and fast forward to last year I decided it was time to do Kinder's Evoke process and when I went through that process I fell in love with it. My plan was just to go through Evoke, learn the method and be done. And on day two I was like nope, I'm going through the whole thing, I'm going to get my RLP and this is the future of the work that I'm going to do.
Speaker 3:And there's so many other things that were happening over the years that just culminated with that being the tipping point of like I am going to take care of the existing clients I have as the financial advisor. I've always been and keep on doing that type of wealth management. But anything new going forward is going to be in this new lane of life planning. And if you're not familiar with life planning, I would first go check out the Kindred Institute for Life Planning and there's some other opportunities to do this. Well, Money Quotient is an option. There's a Golden Gate University, I think. They have a life planning designation as well, but at the center of it life planning is helping people really put their values and their wants at the center of the plan.
Speaker 3:So the focus of the plan is not the numbers, like that comes later. The focus of the plan is what is the life that the individual wants to live, and thinking about planning and helping people figure that out is perfect for this idea of the authentic life that I want to help people experience. So my journey and learning and kind of the wandering that I did was to learn things like skills, learn things I didn't want to do, have life experiences, have my own kind of burnout moment and then align my own spirit, mind and body and through that alignment is where I kind of found a new level of clarity, a new level of happiness. That's where the idea of the authentic life came from, and that is kind of where I feel like I found my purpose. And the wandering beforehand in the early days was, I think, unknowingly me trying to find my purpose.
Speaker 3:I'm a big fan of the book the Alchemist, so like that was the early days of Santiago pursuing his personal legend. Like that was me and I found my personal legend, which is, I believe, to help more and more people live the life that they were created to live, the life they want to live, which may or may not be where they're at, and then helping them to get there. So content allows me to bridge that, or to bring that idea to people and get them to think. And then Life Design Plus is the relationship that I can work one-on-one with people to help them work through where they're at, where they want to go, come up with a plan and then introduce them to a financial advisor to take care of the personal finance side of things.
Speaker 1:Yep yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:We love it. I mean seeing the alignment with purpose and everything it's so cool to see and I mean even just having known you just as long as BC Brokers has been around, seeing you try new things. One thing that I want to just give you props for you are insanely consistent. Your daily notes. Even the first time you're on the podcast, brock and I were like holy cow. Justin knows what it is to like grow a book of business. You know, because I think a lot of people they just see your content, which is cool, but you know you really do have great purpose behind it and it's been cool to see you realign yourself with your goals and as business continues to grow or your um, you know your goals change or where you're focusing on.
Speaker 1:It's just been so cool to see from an outside perspective yeah, and also to, to piggyback on that, after having george kinder on the podcast episode 98 for anybody that wants to check that out, I was like this is literally justin castelli. Like if there's anybody that needed to go check that out and and who philosophically aligns with kind of what that whole process is, it's you, man, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:I mean, I I can't if there's an advisor out there interested in it I can't stress the value of actually going through the training because that was that was the moment where I was, where I realized how powerful it was. Scott Frank sold me on it years ago. I'd always planned on doing it but I used finance reasons not to do it in time and all these things, and I just had to get to a point where I was ready to do it. But then, in experiencing A the feelings that I felt going through because in the process you get life planned. So instead of role playing and giving out BS answers just to get through like you're actually answering it honestly, to kind of learn more about yourself and your partner is doing the same thing. So I got to watch my partner have light bulbs go off and I felt the light bulbs and I was just like this is amazing.
Speaker 3:And I think one of the things that one of the trainers said, louis, in like the first night or second night I can't remember what night it was he said that it's not the responsibility of the life planner to provide any answers. You know, the life planner is meant to be the guide and I've talked about on many episodes and and and written about it. Like I'm a big Rick Rubin fan and when he said that, like it's kind of to me, I was like, oh, like that's what Rick Rubin does with production. Like he isn't a music producer that's working the boards and playing instruments. He like provide, provides an to come in and like works his magic to help them find the song within. And then he does a little bit of style, suggestions and stuff. But like just the idea of being my responsibility is to help you or help a client figure out what they want and who they are. Like that's the idea of the authentic life. So this is the perfect way to do it.
Speaker 3:And then there are some ways that the life planning process through Evoke goes. That, I think, is kind of magical and borderline manifestation as far as how it helps somebody create a vision and get emotionally attached and then bring what they want to them. I think it's pretty special. So if I think about the greatest impact that I can make in someone's life, like helping them retire and helping them have a good portfolio and all those things are good impacts. But if I can help somebody live a life that maximizes their happiness or lets them live the life that they have really been called to live, that they never were able to do like that is a lot of impact and what really excites me about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, how are you getting Go ahead? Go ahead, pete.
Speaker 2:And Evoke is in hawaii. Right, you went to the.
Speaker 3:I did the online version yeah yeah, they've got a beginning of the year. They always do one in hawaii, which sounds amazing, uh, but you're at george's house like the whole week, which would still be really cool, and I um, so I didn't go to hawaii and then I think they have one like in nashville and they might have one in the uk. I did the online version and part of it was strategic One. It was just better for my family to be home and do it. But I also thought there's probably a high likelihood that the majority of my life planning and life design plus is going to be done virtually. So let me train and learn how to do it the way that I'm going to do it more often, and if I can do it well across Zoom, then I'll be perfectly fine if someone comes into the office with me. So I did not get to go to Hawaii.
Speaker 1:I was going to say that'd be crazy, Waking up like George where's the coffee?
Speaker 1:It's like that would definitely be cool. So what I mean, man? What's it been like? Because you're always a guy, too, that wants to push yourself, like learning about all this new stuff, and you're constantly challenging yourself to learn new things. How have you been getting out of your comfort zone? Because, obviously, through repetition it's easy to get back and, like, I feel comfortable. I've got some reps of this. I've done the public speaking. What are you still doing for yourself to make sure that you're putting yourself out there, getting out of that comfort zone and growing as a person?
Speaker 3:Stretching the comfort zone for me comes through creating, expressing myself. So last year around this time I started doing a. I did a five week series of talks. I didn't bring them back this year, I just couldn't find the subject matter that I felt motivated to create. But I get strangers to come listen to me, Can I secure a location? Those are things that are not something I do day to day and I think the five talks were a big success.
Speaker 3:I took those five talks and turned them into I hesitate to call them spoken word poetry because they're not really poetic, but I turned them into spoken word things, spoken word you know things. And so basically take a 45 minute talk and then condense it down into a much shorter format and then I started to perform them. So like I don't even want to call them poetry, but now I'm standing in front of my camera performing them and then creating a video of it to put out on social media. And then the other thing I've done to kind of stretch myself is I've always talked about wanting to like, if I could be anything else in the world, I'd be a music producer, and I just finally was like, quit talking about it, like, find somebody to help you. So I found a coach. I've actually only had one class with him and I've made, I think, 12 beats. I have a SoundCloud now.
Speaker 3:And just very, very elementary, but I'm actually really proud of the output. And now I want, like the next step is to find my sound, like I know my sound and where I want to get it to, and what I'm doing is not quite there, but I had to learn some of the basics. So I think, stretching myself in that respect, getting more disciplined as well, because I am somebody who likes to be free and roam a little bit. Now that I found my vision and my clarity about what I'm doing, like starting to say no to more things, which is really hard for me, because saying yes has been so good my whole career, but saying no so I can pour all of my energy into Life Design Plus Authentic Life, taking care of my clients.
Speaker 3:Like I don't want my, I don't want Arlos Wealth to suffer because I have a new vision for the future, and there was a lot of kind of internal debate about can I do both? How do I do it so that my clients still get what they deserve and I can take care of them? But I can also be true to myself and say all right, the future version of myself is doing less wealth management and more life planning and coaching. How do I slowly make that transition? Because I knew selling my business was not a part of the equation, that was not going to be the way there. So I felt that what was authentic to me was to structure things, that it will be a longer transition so that I can do things the way I want to. I can work with my daily notes. That's a slow drip, my podcast is a slow drip and now I'm getting ready to the point where I want to start seeing, if I can said there's beauty in completion and faith in the unknown, and a lot of people are afraid of the unknown and I actually get excited about the unknown.
Speaker 3:Like change to me is exciting because now it's something new and I get to experiment and get to learn new things and I'm not afraid to fail.
Speaker 3:I'm not afraid to pivot because I know in those failures quote, unquote failures and pivots, there's lessons to be learned and it's going to help me when I come back and really find out where I'm supposed to be. So I can't think of anything that I have ahead of me that's new to stretch myself and grow. I think as I go into this Life Design Plus and the coaching that goes alongside of it. There'll be a lot of growth because I have a few clients that I'm doing this with. We're doing monthly coaching calls now, but the way I've redefined Life Design Plus to go forward will be weekly, because I hired a coach and we meet weekly and I love it, that I want to do and the transformation I want to help people make. I don't think monthly is enough and maybe I find out that two weeks is the right mix. But coaching somebody on a weekly basis is going to be something new because I've never done that before but I'm really excited about doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what are like some other potential projects. You know, when you see Justin in five, 10, 15 years, what are like some other ideas. I know on the episode prior you're like, oh, maybe like an advisor studio I want to develop. You know, are there any like lofty goals or any just cool business ideas? Or if you're the shark tank of uh rias and you're like, okay, I like that brand, you know, change this like you know what's the future look like for you.
Speaker 3:I love the idea of my studio as well, but I don't know if I'll ever end up doing it Like I think that'd be a really cool thing to do, but no, I think the big projects all center around Life Design Plus, which I'm excited to be able to say that, because you guys know it's been different things but I've been pretty consistent. So when I think about Life Design Plus and the work I want to do, that's the one-on-one coaching, continuing to do the podcast and hoping to see that the audience grow. I have a couple of books in me that I'd like to write and kind of beginning to move towards, okay, formatting what that might look like and what's the subject going to be and what's the flow going to be like. I'd love to be able to take some of the coaching clients or people who don't hire me for coaching but want some help and do some retreats and then so like just building out this Life Design Plus idea. So what Life Design Plus really is, it's founded and based in the evoke process, so the beginning of it is going through evoke and then I put like a Rick Rubin, like I put my own spin on that and incorporated in that and built upon that is helping people with the alignment of spirit, mind and body. So I think that Life Design Plus will not be for everybody, because they may not be ready to do that, but incorporating that, helping people find that alignment because I know what that's meant for me and I think that's really important and then spinning that into coaching. But I have a unique perspective. As an advisor for 20 years, I think I have good perspective about where the profession is going. I have a huge financial advisor audience. So I have two advisors I'm working with.
Speaker 3:Now I have a version of Life Design Plus that I want to be able to roll out for financial advisors and that would be the same evoke process finding the authentic life, but then integrating that version of you into your practice process finding the authentic life but then integrating that version of you into your practice. So, okay, you've been an advisor for 20 years and this is what your practice looks like. This is who you were. You know who you want to be and moved in that direction, and you've kind of redefined who you are as an individual and what you want your life to look like. Does your business match up, yes or no? And if not, how do we begin to integrate this new version of you into your business and do it in a way that you can take care of clients still and maybe slowly transform? Or maybe the answer is you blow it up and start from scratch and then the next tier would be until everybody has life planning in house I think there are going to be firms that have a need for it from time to time and just being able to hold myself out as an outsourced life planner, so I wouldn't come in and do like my life design plus, I would just come in and do the evoke process for you.
Speaker 3:I'll hold mind and body back because that may not align with your firm, but you've got a client who's feeling stuck, feeling lost, or they exited and they don't really know what's next. But you don't have a life planner on staff, so you can bring me in. I'll do the life plan alongside the advisor every meeting. They're in there with them, so they're hearing their clients wise, they're understanding it, but I'm the one leading the discussion, create the life plan and when it's time to do the financial plan, I just fade back.
Speaker 1:I like that man too. Yeah, because I feel like what you're saying that makes a ton of sense. You can go a bunch of different directions with it, but when it does come to your personal, like the light design plus spirit, body, mind, like in some regards, like you're not ready to change unless you're ready to change right, so you have to be willing to submit yourself to that process, be open, you know, agree to the criteria, or at least the ideas, and understand what you're getting into. So people that do want to do that, like what do you expect? I don't want to use qualify because I think that's way too corporate of a term but like how are you? How do people know if they're ready for that? Or what are your kind of parameters around wanting to work with somebody in that capacity?
Speaker 3:That's a great question and honestly, I struggle with it. I think that's one of the reasons that Life Design Plus is slowly growing is I don't have an avatar and so much of what I believe is it's like a feeling type of thing. So how can I explain this feeling for somebody to say, yeah, that's what I have? But I think in general, I think the people who will be interested in working with me on Life Design Plus and I think that there's a different avatar for life planning but in both of them I think you have to be ready. So if we think about, like, if you're an advisor thinking about maybe wanting to bring life planning, I believe your clients still have to be ready, because it's a very personal process and the answers that they provide and the depths that they go to to figure out what they really want and the why behind it could open up some really big emotions and maybe even some traumas. Not everybody's ready to have those therapeutic type conversations with their advisor, but if they are, I think advisors are in a great place to do that. So, just like planning in general, I still think they have to be ready and they just basically at a point where they're like I know there's something more. I want to do more. I've always wanted to live this life, life, and now I'm ready to try to make it happen.
Speaker 3:When you go to Life Design Plus, there's still that aspect to it, but I think the individual has a spiritual component to them, understands the power of the mind and is already doing things around mindset and visualization.
Speaker 3:They believe in the law of attraction and the things that we say are woo-woo.
Speaker 3:They believe in that they are already taking care of themselves and their physical wellness and health is important to them and they want somebody who's going to say, hey, we're going to incorporate those things into your planning to make sure that you're keeping those aligned, because in alignment I have learned that you move through life a lot smoother, like doors open up.
Speaker 3:I would love clients that are comfortable saying, hey, part of our plan is we're going to manifest this business, or we're going to manifest this trip. Or they understand to pay attention. Going back to the alchemist, they understand to pay attention to the omens that the universe will give you signs letting you know you're moving in the right direction, or also give you signs to say, hey, maybe you're not. And I write about the bald eagles I see and the meaning behind that. I just made a major professional decision that was guided by my heart over reason and was confirmed by three bald eagle sightings in in one week and I think 90% of the public are going to be like that's weird and that's crazy and those aren't going to be the people who hire me for life design plus.
Speaker 3:But they're going to be 10% of the people who are like, hey, that resonates. You know my sign from the universe is a lady bug or a bead or whatever it might be, but like that stuff resonates with them. So that's why I write about all the spirit of my body stuff is. I know there are people who understand and believe things that I believe and they might want somebody to help them sort through life incorporating those types of things. And I think if I ever go back to trying to actively grow RLS Wealth, it'll probably be all right. The people I'm coaching I really, really love and the planning they're going to do is exciting. No sense in referring them out. Let me just have, let me take care of them on the financial side over at Arlos Wealth, and I think that part of that financial plan recommendation will include manifestation and these types of things. So it's, as you can see, a long-winded answer. It's not very clear which, from a marketing standpoint, sucks Um. But I also think that if I believe in the universe the way that I do, I don't know if I have to get it perfect, because the people who need me, they're going to find their way to me. We're going to be on the same wavelength. I'm going to pop up in their LinkedIn feed randomly. They're going to see something that resonates with them, they're going to start following me and then they're going to have that moment and, I guess, one final kind of like avatar.
Speaker 3:I think that the people who are going to seek life planning and life design realize that happiness not happiness, purpose and fulfillment is not necessarily found through more money and success. So I think that people who go through these processes will already be in financially good shape. They're already successful in their careers and they realize more money, more success, isn't going to fill that void and they got to figure out what it is. And I also think that the fee structure on these things are not cheap, so they're going to be financially able to pay for it.
Speaker 3:And that's always been a hard thing for me is I was always wanted to serve everybody and help everybody, which is why I started Arliss Wealth to have a subscription model and do hourly do all the things. But I ultimately realized that I can help people even they can't afford to hire me through the content, through the ideas, through other things that I do, or through introducing them to other advisors that are different stages, that are doing similar type of things that can help them. So that was an obstacle I had to overcome and just realized that to do the work I want to do, it's not going to be cheap, the outcomes are going to be worth it and, yes, I'm going to alienate some people, but I can help them progress and move forward in other ways and maybe one day they're able to hire me to kind of get to the final phase of that growth because of all the other little things they did that I was able to help them with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:So many great tidbits there, so many great tidbits. So, justin, any other golden nuggets you're thinking of before you came on here, you want to express to the advisor community anything else that's on your mind or what people need to be thinking about.
Speaker 3:I'm always going to encourage people to bring their authentic self to their work. I know a lot of advisors fit themselves into stereotypes. Maybe they have to. I've talked about this on another podcast. Oh, I actually talked about this when I was at Michigan State. I have to acknowledge that my love of authenticity and expressing myself is a little bit easier for me than it might be for some other folks in the profession, because I'm the stereotype, I'm the white male in finance, so I can walk into rooms wearing graphic tees and having my tattoos showed, and it's a little bit easier for me to stay in that room versus it might be for somebody else. So I still think that bringing in as much of your authentic self as you can and you're comfortable to do is really, really important, because I think it's gonna make you happier.
Speaker 3:I think burnout happens because we play a character that's not really true to us. So we have all of the things in life that are already zapping our energy and then you add on top of having to be an actor. It gets old, you get tired, you get frustrated, you resent certain things and just kind of burn out. So my encouragement to the advisor community would be to bring as much of yourself, your true, authentic self, as you can to your business, and then you get to determine how much that is. But I think it will help you enjoy what it is you're doing, it'll help you attract the right type of people and it will help you get to be yourself all the time, and I think we are our most comfortable when we get to be us. So strive to bring more of that to your profession.
Speaker 3:And one final thing I'll say to that is if you can't bring all of your authentic self maybe you're in a situation where you can't because of corporate structures or whatever it is if you aren't bringing all of yourself, I don't think that means you're being inauthentic. You can still be authentic but not show all of yourself or not be able to. I think inauthentic is when you're being somebody that you're not. So be who you are and share as much of that as you can. Or you're comfortable, and I still think you're living and being authentic, because I think about that sometimes, that I don't want people to flip to the other side of the coin. Oh well, if I can't dress the way I want, then I'm being inauthentic. No like, follow the uniform but be yourself still and that you're still being an authentic version of yourself, even though it might be somewhat constrained.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well said, man. I mean, that's so relatable. And I think we've all kind of been in a place where you can see that, where it's like you almost become a part of a culture where, like, the status quo is to kind of be like everyone else, right, the status quo is to kind of be like everyone else, right, and this is the way we do things here, and that doesn't mean that you can't have individualism and be yourself and be your authentic self. So, man, always great to have you here, always great to be able to see you, appreciate you, helping us with a lot, learning a lot from you over the years. And thanks a lot, dude, thanks for having me back.
Speaker 2:You bet. Thank you, Justin.